Obama Weekly Address: Stimulus Is Working But Needs More Time

President Barack Obama in his weekly radio/You Tube address argues that his economic stimulus plan is indeed working but needs more time:

President Barack Obama said on Saturday more time was needed for his $787 billion (485 billion pound) stimulus package to work, predicting the spending would have a bigger impact on the economy later this year.

In an advanced text of his weekly radio speech, Obama said the stimulus plan approved by Congress and signed into law in mid-February “was not designed to work in four months – it was designed to work over two years.”

Obama’s comments follow government data showing the unemployment rate soared to 9.5 percent in June, the highest level since 1983 and above the 8 percent peak predicted by the White House when it worked with Congress to pass the package. Republicans say the stimulus plan is not working.

Obama now warns unemployment will likely top 10 percent in the coming months.

“We must let (the stimulus plan) work the way it’s supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity,” Obama said.

He said the benefits of the plan would “accelerate greatly throughout the summer and the fall.”

And, Reuters notes, the public’s confidence in the plan is starting to slip:

The share of Americans who believe the stimulus package will restore the economy slipped to 52 percent in late June, down from 59 percent two months earlier, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

There is also a gradual shift in the conventional wisdom which is mirrored in editorial cartoonists. For instance:

John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri

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